Vikas was born in Allahabad in a family of lawyers.

After graduating with honours from Allahabad University with Psychology, Philosophy and Modern History, he joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986 and served in Indian Missions in Ankara, Washington DC, Addis Ababa, London and Pretoria before being appointed as Consul General to Osaka-Kobe, Japan where he served from 2009 till 2013. His last overseas appointment was as High Commissioner of India to Canada from 2017-19.

At headquarters Vikas has been the desk officer for Southern Africa, the US and Canada, the Director handling relations with Pakistan, Nepal & Bhutan and the Director-in-charge of the office of the External Affairs Minister. He served as Joint Secretary (United Nations Political) before being appointed the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry from 2015-2017 in which capacity he travelled extensively with the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister and significantly upscaled the Ministry’s social media outreach. His last assignment in Delhi was as Secretary (West), supervising relations with Europe, Central Asia and the United Nations system.

After a 35-year career in the IFS, he retired from government service on June 30, 2021.

Vikas was invited by the President of the UN’s Economic and Social Council to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), and acted as a moderator on the Thematic Review Session “Addressing multi-dimensions of poverty and inequalities” on the 10th of July, 2017.

From October 2021 till May 2023 he hosted 78 episodes of a popular weekly programme on foreign affairs called ‘Diplomatic Dispatch’ aimed at demystifying diplomacy and making it accessible to everyone, for India’s national parliamentary channel, Sansad TV.

Most recently, Vikas served as the inaugural Global Thought Leader in Residence at the University of Guelph in Canada during September-October 2023.

Vikas is also an acclaimed novelist. His first book, Q&A, was published in 2005 and won several awards including the Boeke Prize of South Africa and the Prix Grand Public at the 2007 Paris Book Fair. It was filmed as the multiple-Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle. His second book Six Suspects has been converted into a nine-part web series directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia which premiered on Disney+Hotstar and Hulu on the 4th of February, 2022 and has become the most watched Hotstar Special ever. His most recent novel, The Accidental Apprentice, is also being adapted for the screen.

Vikas’ works have been translated into more than 45 international languages. He has participated in numerous literary festivals in India and around the world and given talks at several top companies, institutions and forums ranging from Google to IIM Kolkata to the Seoul Digital Forum.

Vikas is the recipient of the US-India Business Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award for ‘Contributing to the Cultural Ties that Bind’ and received the award from USIBC Chairman Indra K. Nooyi at the USIBC’s 34th Anniversary Gala Reception in Washington D.C. on June 16, 2009.

He has been a jury member for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize and the 33rd Cairo International Film Festival.

He is the recipient of four honorary doctorates, from the University of South Africa, University of Guelph, Concordia University in Montreal and Carleton University in Ottawa

Vikas contributed a short story titled ‘A Great Event’ for The Children's Hours: Stories of Childhood, an anthology of stories about childhood to support Save the Children and raise awareness for its fight to end violence against children.

He has written travelogues for British Airways High Life Magazine and Singapore Airlines SilverKris. He contributed a piece titled ‘Fame in the time of Twitter’ to Johnnie Walker House Edit.

Vikas has also written for numerous prestigious publications such as TIME, Newsweek, The Guardian (UK), The Telegraph (UK), Financial Times (UK), DNA (India), Outlook (India), and Liberation (France).

Vikas is fond of cricket, tennis and table tennis.

He is married to Aparna, an artist and photographer who has exhibited extensively abroad and whose works are in several private collections. They have two sons.